Ahmed Khan Malik

Dhabeji Special Economic Zone (DSEZ) is being developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to help boost industrialisation in the Sindh province. After thorough procurement process, the Concession Agreement for DSEZ was executed last year with the private partner – Special Purpose Vehicle – formed by Zahir Khan and Brothers (ZKB), being the winning bidder, official documents show. The contract term is 20 years and the Phase-I (comprising 750 acres) shall be developed in two and half years. Being built on 1,530 acres of land in Dhabeji, DSEZ is expected to bring manifold benefits not only to the province of Sindh but also to the national economy. “These benefits will include job creation, industrial development, investment inflows, increase in exports and notable impact on national GDP,” Manzoor Rajpar, Director of Sindh Economic Zone Authority, said.  He said that in addition to influx of private finance and investment inflows, the project was expected to generate notable income flows for the government of Sindh in the form of share in revenues. 

He said Dhabeji had certain locational advantages, including easy access to Port Qasim, which saves time and enables raw material import and finished goods export without incurring major inland transportation costs. “A direct access road (8km) connecting Port Qasim to Dhabeji Zone is being developed,” he added. Rajpar said that a dedicated cargo deck connecting the zone with ML-1 from Dhabeji junction and a jetty to connect Port Qasim alongside Dhabeji zone from creek side had been envisaged to facilitate export-oriented industries. He added that the Karachi Airport, which was only 35 kilometres from economic zone, and the National Highway would enable safe travel of foreign workers and management personnel and transportation of goods to upcountry and Central Asian Republics using the National Trade Corridor. He said various industrial clusters and sectors were proposed or planned to be established in DSEZ ranging from light engineering, automotive and auto parts, chemical & pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics engineering, textile & garments, steel foundries, warehousing and building material.

“DSEZ has been allocated 13.5 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas,” said Ismail Qureshi, Director of Planning DSEZ management team.  He said smooth gas supply was essential to supporting the industrial activities in the economic zone. Furthermore, he added as part of the annual development plan, a dedicated road connecting the economic zone to Port Qasim was scheduled to be completed during this year. “This road project has a budget of Rs2.7 billion and will be linked to the National Highway through an interchange, enhancing connectivity and facilitating the movement of goods and people.” Qureshi said a special package had also been announced to incentivise entrepreneurs in the economic zone. “This includes a one-time exemption from tax and customs duty on the import of capital goods, as well as income tax exemption for a period of 10 years. These measures are designed to promote investment, boost economic activity and attract businesses to the zone.”

INP: Credit: INP-WealthPk